WAC’s first
ever Hampshire League cross-country race saw 21 of us turnout in
fantastic conditions. In cross-country we are usually sorting out our
thermals and some dry kit, but no such worries here – pass the sun
cream!
We are one
of three new clubs to the league this season, the other two being
Salisbury and Portsmouth University. Each of the new clubs, naturally,
join in the league’s lowest division (for the seniors - Div 2 for the
women and Div 3 for the men). Promotion can be gained by finishing in
the top two.
The event
took place in a beautiful setting and it was a joy to be out there. The
quality of the front end of the field in this league is impressive and
it was great to see so many runners in the races (almost 280 for the
senior men alone). The organization of the event on the day was
impressive and the results have already been posted up on the league’s
website
www.athletics.hampshire.org.uk. This race was billed as the league’s
most challenging course of the season, and although there was a couple
of tough-ish climbs (one in particular) it should mean that the other
races will hold no fear for us.
Although it
was WAC’s Hampshire League debut we also had a number of WACers racing
in their first XC league race ever in a red shirt. Welcome to Trudi
Carter, Paul Hine, Georgie Hougham, Gerry Hutchings, Sharon Hutchings,
Sam Lucas and Colin Read. It’s great to have so much commitment and
enthusiasm from our new blood.
The
increasing number of WACers brought us tantalising close to fielding
full teams in a number of the junior categories – with a bit more of a
push we can manage this in future races.
First race
of the day was the girls under-13s. Old hand Alex was the first WACer
in, with debutant Sharon only 20-30 seconds behind. Sam made his debut
in the boys U13 race and he headed in Adam by a similar margin. The
pattern was repeated again in the under-15s with Jack and Callum. With
this rivalry between team mates we can work together to improve our
performances throughout the season. Maddy had to do it all on her own in
the under-17 women’s race however, and she managed her usual spirited
performance. All of our juniors ran intelligent races and made steady
progress through the field as the races progressed. Well done.
In the
Senior Ladies’ race the girls finished tightly packed, with a great run
from Nicki Roe being just enough to head the surging Trudi Carter home.
Georgie Hougham and Claire Newby were there in close support too. The
girls currently lie in 18th position in a league of 28 teams.
It was
brilliant to see so many red shirts line up for the senior men’s race
(10 in all). London-based WACer Colin Read was the first red shirt over
the line on his WAC XC debut. He clocked in at 34:09, an impressive time
for 9km of undulating cross-country running. Next home was the rapidly
improving ‘bionic’ Graeme Furley who has made dramatic progress
recently. One good aspect of having so many runners in this race was
that it was hard to predict who would be the ones that would score team
points (which go to our first 3 finishers). On the day it was Richard
Atkins who was third in. It is the sign of a decent team when Graham
Whiffen and Daryl Davies are pushing to gain point scoring positions,
hopefully this competition within the team will push us all on. After
one race we lie in third place in the league (12 teams). Dare we dream
of promotion in our first year. It’s too early to say, but we do have
more firepower available to us, so let’s get organized and see what we
can do. Three of the Division Three’s top four clubs are the league’s
debutants at the moment – so it will be tough, but in Division 2 we
would be able to test ourselves against some of our local rivals –
Bournemouth AC, Hamworthy Harriers, Poole AC and Poole Runners. There is
also a Veteran’s League (where we start in Division 2), with so much
experience in our team we lie absolutely mid-table in 10th
position there. Richard was our first ‘vet’ home and the other scoring
‘vets’ positions going to Ian Kennedy and Phil Burgess in what for many
of us is likely to be a closely fought season-long challenge. Steve
Snook struggled a little with a knee problem and recent recruits Gerry
Hutchings and Paul Hine enjoyed the challenge of their race debuts.
It wasn’t
all about the runners though. Thanks very much to our support crew,
drivers, tent erectors, and those who shouted encouragement all day
long, generally contributing to the excellent team spirit on the day.
Thanks to those who saw that all our racers were warmed up and prepared
for their races, and generally in the right place at the right time
throughout the day. With so many of us travelling up together we were
operating as a tight unit.
All in all a
very encouraging start to the new season and a great day. The WAC
results were:
Under-13
Girls
19 –
Alexandra Vaughan-Johncey – 9:31
31 – Sharon
Hutchings – 9:54
Under-13
Boys
44 – Sam
Lucas – 12:05
59 – Adam
Collins – 12:37
Under-15
Boys
46 – Jack
Snook – 15:59
51 – Callum
Kennedy – 16:38
Under-17
Women
23 – Maddy
Vaughan-Johncey – 18:24
Senior Women
107 – Nicki
Roe – 30:10
108 – Trudi
Carter – 30:16
120 –
Georgie Hougham – 32:28
125 – Claire
Newby – 33:51
Senior Men
63 – Colin
Read – 34:08
87 –
Graeme Furley – 35:18
135 –
Richard Atkins – 37:17
152 – Graham
Whiffen – 38:17
187 – Daryl
Davies – 39:52
213 – Ian
Kennedy – 41:36
219 – Phil
Burgess – 42:27
240 – Steve
Snook – 44:37
245 – Gerry
Hutchings – 45:29
255 – Paul
Hine – 46:47
